= new reply since forum marked as read
...and there was a third band...I can't remember the name...and predicted that all three would be "huge."
Kiss, obviously, became "huge."
Montrose, not so much...largely due to the ego clash between Ronnie Montrose and Sammy Hagar, Ronnie's irregular recording output, and his insistence on ping-ponging between multiple personalities.
I can't even remember the name of the third band...and I don't think they ever made it to a second album, so Rolling Stone's prediction rang true on 2 out of 3.
The big track on the first Kiss album, for me, was "Black Diamond"...I hadn't really heard anything like that before. I always preferred their longer, more complex songs...like that one and "Detroit Rock City"...to the "hit single" crap like "Rock & Roll All Nite." There is a part of me that wants to be a "Kiss Purist" and say that I only liked the Ace Frehley albums, but when you delve into their history and find out how many sessions he missed (or was squeezed out of by Paul and Gene), that's a rapidly shrinking catalog.
First album still rules, I think...second and third, not so much. "Alive"...how the hell can you get away from that one? And aside from extremely occasional sparks of brilliance, I'd have to say "Destroyer" was the last worthwhile album.
so Gene & Paul knocked it out in one night (!!!). I love "Black Diamond," but not sure why it's always paired with "Rock Bottom."
And to me, "Destroyer" was their best album. 
